The Bank of Israel said it plans to raise interest rates by 0.8 percent in May in an effort to keep down inflation.
The decision to raise rates followed a 1 percent increase in the March cost-of- living index — a relatively high increase that fueled concerns that inflation in 1996 would exceed last year’s 9 percent.
The central bank has kept interest rates high and the Israeli shekel at about three to the dollar for more than two years as part of its ongoing campaign to fight inflation.
These moves have drawn criticism from industrialists, who say the monetary policy is responsible for Israel’s high trade deficit, which reached $2.9 billion in the first three months of 1996.
In other news, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange has opened a World Wide Web site to improve relations with foreign investors.
The site posts daily trade figures, explanations of trading method explanations and a brief review of the exchange’s history.
The address is: http://www.tase.co.il.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
